APOD 2.6

Moondog Night: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141211.html

The mountaintop dome of Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona is illuminated by light from a last quarter moon. Jupiter can be seen just left of the overexposed lunar disk. Near the center of the picture is a moondog or paraselene, directly over Kitt Peak's WIYN telescope. A paraselene is produced by moonlight refracted through thin, heaxagonal, plate-shaped ice crystals in high cirrus clouds. 

Friedrich Georg Struve Sources

Works Cited

"Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve." Friedrich Struve, German Astronomer in St. Petersburg. Saint-Petersburg.com, n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2014. <http://www.saint-petersburg.com/german/friedrich-georg-wilhelm-struve/>.

"Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Von Struve." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/569740/Friedrich-Georg-Wilhelm-von-Struve>.

Wessel, Jim. "Friedrich Georg Wilhem Von Struve." (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://www.davidstestingground.com/>.

APOD 2.5

Stars and Dust Pillars in NGC 7822 from WISE: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141201.html

Towards Cepheus, this star forming region can be seen about 3,000 light years away. This photo was taken with infrared light by NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite. The atomic emission by the cluster's gas is powered by radiation from star. Stars could still be forming inside pillars through gravitational collapse. This field is around 40 light years wide. I love how the dust pillars are photographed.